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Angels of Sorrow
The Angels of Sorrow are a chapter of space marines specialising in large-scale assaults and make-or-brake pushes that act as a critical turning point in a battle. To witness the Angels of Sorrow in battle is to see the emperor's wrath brought down on those who bring suffering to mankind. Recruited solely from the survivors of the sort of tragedies that are all too common in the 41st millennium. New recruits are taught how to use the trauma they have experienced to make them more effective fighters, willing to give their lives in a heartbeat to protect the Imperium and its citizens, as it is all they have left to give. History Created as part of the 21st "cursed" founding, the Angels of Sorrow have always been mistrusted by the rest of the imperium, and some factions refuse to fight alongside them all together, especially highly zealous space marine chapters such as the black templars. This isolated them from a lot of the imperium in the early history of the chapter, meaning that many ideologies that are extremely common throughout the rest of imperium (such as the imperial cult and extreme xenophobia) are less prevalent in the angels of sorrow, although they still manifest in some forms. It was decided that the chapter would be given Dystotion, a death world on the edge of the ghoul stars, as their chapter homeworld, at that point little more than a barren rock. The young chapter took the planet and struck a deal with remote forgeworld Aphreti, offering unconditional protection in return for additional weapons along with the means to terraform their planet. During the terraforming of Dystotion, an ancient network of tunnels and chambers was unearthed, and soon a whole ruined city was discovered, and with it, a huge cache of rare STCs, including new warp-capable ships, tanks, weapons and fortifications. The majority of these STCs were less effective than existing variants, leading imperial scholars to theorise the planet was cut off from the rest of humanity quite some time before the age of strife, or the branch of civilisation was overcome by some immense xenos threat, accounting for the less advanced technology. There were a few gems among the STCs found, including a more efficient energy storage system for las weaponry, and, crucially for the Angels of Sorrow, a form of very weak warp beacon, which can be felt by psykers feeling a particularly strong emotion, which can be set by 'tuning' it to a particular emotional 'frequency'. these beacons are very feint, and would normally be completely drowned out by the astronomicon on any distance larger than that of a single system, but the complete lack of psychic communication through the halo stars means they can be heard across a larger area. The Angels of sorrow kept three of these devices in the silent tower, a massive needle sticking out of the underground network that makes up the fortress-monastery and it's supporting city of imperial citizens, piercing the sky. these three beacons, known as the whispering bells, ring out, one calling to pain, one sorrow, one loss. Psykers who hear this call will migrate towards the planet, bringing with them other survivors of whichever catastrophe that befell their home. Any children between the age of 12 and 15, old enough to remember what they lost, but just about young enough to become space marines, can be taken into the chapter. However, with the opening of the great rift causing turmoil in the warp in the so-called 'dark imperium', the Angels of Sorrow are finding it increasingly difficult to recuperate their numbers after recent campaigns, and would likely have been wiped out without primaris reinforcements, which now make up the majority of the chapter. Gene-seed The Angels of Sorrow's gene-seed, like many 21st founding chapters, was tampered with during their creation, and some believe that the Adeptus Mechanicus experimented with introducing elements of imperial fist genome into gene-seed from the dark angels when creating the Angels of Sorrow in an attempt to remove the loyalty issues the unforgiven tend to have, but no official records of their creation remain. Because of the Adeptus Mehanicus' interference, the Angels of Sorrow have a mutation in their betcher's gland, which moves up an aspirant's face after implementation, and bond to the tear ducts rather than the salivary glands. They also have a mental flaw, similar to the black rage that plagues the blood angels and their successors, and dorn's darkness in the Exoriators chapter. This flaw always manifests in the thick of battle, and causes a marine's malformed Betcher's gland to suddenly flood their tear ducts and send corrosive acid into their eyes and cascading down their face. After a few seconds the marine will be blinded, and soon after their other senses will start to dim. Visions of the individual's past will then surface, bringing them back to the moment their former lives were shattered, before they had the might of the emperor's unstoppable will infused with their very being. For a space marine, to once again feel helpless is not an experience easily forgotten, and if an Angel of Sorrow survives being completely immobilised in battle this way his face will be permanently scarred. However, the marine will also become far more respected by his battle-brothers, as being able to face their past allows an Angel of Sorrow to move past it, the solid cliff of his anger and desire for revenge worn away by the gentle sea of memory, leaving behind a calm, collected tactician with a fiery passion within. This prosses is known as 'the emperor's tears', and is often used to gauge a battle-brother's experience, with one of the requirements to move from a scout to a full member of the chapter is to have survived this once, and squad sergeants are often not the members with the most experience in battle, but the ones with the most experience of their own past. An interesting note is that primaris marines in the Angels of Sorrow don't show any resistance to this flaw, as primaris space marines do with gene-seed flaws in other chapters. Notable Angels of Sorrow Chapter Master Orden Karis Orden Karis started his life as a space marine after fleeing the destruction of cadia, somehow managing to end up in the outskirts of the halo stars, where his mother, the only family he had left and a latent psyker, began to hear the chiming of the whispering bells, and lead the group towards the planet of Dystotion. however, not long after arriving on the planet a fierce sandstorm started up, separating the 14-year-old and his mother. When the dust settled he was found by a patrol of Angels of Sorrow, and was taken back to the silent tower. They later discovered his mother and the rest of the group she lead had starved before making it to safety. Orden Karis quickly rose in the ranks, serving in the Angels of Sorrow’s deathwing before becoming the master of the 3rd company, and was chosen to become chapter master in 420. M40 by the inner circle after the previous one was killed in battle. He became the second marine in the Angels of Sorrow to cross the rubicon primaris after the divergence campaign, and commonly wears gravis armour in battle, often accompanying the 3rd company he used to belong to. Lieutenant Nathanial Teshin Lieutenant Nathanial Teshin was the first regular space marine in the Angels of Sorrow to cross the rubicon primaris, doing so during the divergence campaign against the t'au, not long after the first primaris were first inducted into the chapter. He is one of the chapter's finest warriors, currently serving in the third company. He was awarded a heavenfall blade, one of the chapter's most prized relics, after experiencing the Emperor's Tears for the fourth time during the na't sar campaign against the Death Guard, where he went on to slay the foul demon prince known as the rottweiler with it, casting him back into the warp. Category:Imperium Category:Space Marines Category:Space Marine Chapters Category:Dark Angels Successors Category:21st Founding